PM Manmohan Singh's hectic schedule in ThimphuPrime Minister Manmohan Singh had a hectic second day at the SAARC Summit in Thimphu, where he held meetings with various Heads od State.Images: How female spies changed historyWhen Madhuri Gupta was arrested by the Indian agencies, it brought back memories of the women spies like Mata Hari and Virginia Hall. Intelligence services from across the world have always used woman spies since it is believed that they are better at gaining access to information, than their male counterparts.US report doubts religious freedom in IndiaPutting India on the 'watch list' for the second year in succession, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in its report said the Indian government at various levels recognised the problem of communal violence and created some structures to address these issues.SAARC diary: Window to 'truth,' the Bhutanese wayOn location to cover the ongoing SAARC summit, strolls through the valleys of this tranquil wonderland called Thimphu; and meets interesting personalities amidst ethereal surroundings.India's 1st stealth frigate commissionedThe 143-metre-long warship, with 6,000-tonne displacement, has "versatile control systems with signature management and radar cross-section reduction features."

April 28, 2010

Drugs, extortion, violence fund Red TerrorTo carry on their violent activities across 223 districts in India, Maoists need a massive annual budget of Rs 200 crore to procure latest arms, perpetuate jungle warfare, continue propaganda and recruit new cadres. Ajit Kumar Singh and Sachin Bansidhar Diwan reveal how the Left-wing extremists gather their 'revenues' via a complicated network of extortion, threats and narcotic cultivation.Video: PM arrives in Bhutan for SAARC SummitPrime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Thimphu on a two-day visit to participate in the 16th SAARC Summit that begins on Wednesday. He was received at the Paro International airport, 60 km from the capital, by Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigme Y Thinley and Indian's Ambassador to Bhutan Pavan Varma.Video: PM arrives in Bhutan for SAARC SummitPrime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Thimphu on a two-day visit to participate in the 16th SAARC Summit that begins on Wednesday. He was received at the Paro International airport, 60 km from the capital, by Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigme Y Thinley and Indian's Ambassador to Bhutan Pavan Varma.Dr Singh wants peace, not his party, says PakistanIn an apparent bid to drive a wedge between Indian government and the ruling party, Pakistan has said that "well-meaning" Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was keen to normalise ties with it but "elements in Congress" did not support him.

April 26, 2010

Why Cong breathes easy ahead of cut motionsEven as the government is keeping its fingers crossed hoping there is no untoward incident when the demand for grants are put to guillotine at 6 pm on Tuesday, its managers are not leaving anything to chance -- contacting each Member of Parliament of not only the Congress party, but its allies as well, to ensure their presence in the House.'Reservations for Muslims is not for votes'In an interview with Neerja Chowdhury, Union Minister of State for Minority and Corporate Affairs Salman Khurshid explores the arguments for and against reservation for Muslims, and concludes that it is necessary to implement such a step.The school dropout with a PhDV Kathiresan had to drop out of school to support his family. Today he has a PhD and is a college lecturer. Continuing our series on Extraordinary Indians.Politicians love to rule our sports administrationThe perks (foreign travel, ringside seats and so on) that come with these jobs are an obvious attraction for politicians, never mind India's mostly poor global sporting performance.

Images: India sweats under relentless heat waveIndia continued to sweat it out as heat wave conditions persisted in northern, eastern, western and central parts of the country.When literary figures came alive in ParliamentWhen leaders quote literary figures in Parliament.Pix: In US, Missile Man sends out a stern missiveFormer president Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, visiting Washington, DC, did what he does best and likes the most in recent years -- talking to and engaging with students. But, Kalam was also not averse to conveying the message to the powers that be in the US that their reluctance to utilize the core competence of India in science and technology was to their detriment and cited the example of the joint ventures between Indian and Russian scientists.

April 22, 2010

Why true progress will elude some nationsBetween 1997 and 2008, aid commitments for sanitation and water fell from eight per cent of total development aid to five cent per cent, according to the latest UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) report.Video: Mumbai police, from fat to fitMumbai Police Commissioner D Shivanandan is on a mission to ensure that the law enforcers get into shape.Earth Day: World is in greater peril than everEarth Day 2010 can be a turning point to advance climate policy, energy efficiency, renewable energy and green jobs. Earth Day Network is galvanising millions who make personal commitments to sustainability.Videos: Women power rocks Kumbh Mela 2010No official estimate is available about the number of sadhvis and sanyaasins at the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar, but there is no dearth of women who have left their families behind and 'surrendered themselves to God's service'.

April 21, 2010

Pix: Politicians who were shown the doorRediff.com takes a look at some recent high-profile resignations by politicians who went blue in the face proclaiming their innocence.Uma Thurman's dad and the Dalai LamaProfessor Robert Thurman, senior scholar at Columbia University and one of the Dalai Lama's oldest supporters, speaks to Claude Arpi about his relations with the Tibetan spiritual leader, the present state of capitalist' China, the Buddhist wave in the West, his idea of a Second Renaissance and his work for preserving Indian shastras.Why the Shivalik-class frigates matter to IndiaThe hard to detect warships will form a crucial component of the Indian Navy after getting commissioned on April 29. It is equipped with a mix of Indian, Russian, Israeli and Western weapons and sensors.BJP's mammoth rally leaves Delhi sweating, fumingThe rally was taken out to showcase the public angst against the steeply rising prices of commodities drew BJP supporters from across the country.Stuck in Europe: 'Looks like a rather long wait'The shrinking ash plume from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano has raised the hopes of thousands of stranded passengers. However, even though the air lockdown over Europe may have eased, the chaos and confusion prevails.

China quake death toll surges past 1,900Five days after the devastating earthquake in northwestern China, rescuers on Monday pulled out a four-year-old girl and an elderly Tibetan woman alive under the rubble of a collapsed building, even as the death toll rose to 1,944.

April 18, 2010

Ash crisis: Europe continues to remain no fly zoneEuropean skies were a virtual no-fly zone for a fourth day on Sunday, with volcanic ash drifting from Iceland reaching as far as Russia, stranding tens of thousands of people as over 17,000 flights were cancelled.China earthquake toll crosses 1700"There will be new schools! There will be new homes!," wrote Chinese President Hu Jintao on the blackboard of a makeshift classroom in Qinghai, as he visited the quake-devastated region where the death toll in last week's 7.1 temblor mounted to 1,706 on Sunday.

April 17, 2010

'Passengers running out of clothes,patience,money'An unprecedented 17,000 flights have been grounded as drifting volcanic ash cloud forced a no fly zone over almost the whole of Europe on Saturday, shutting down major airports and stranding millions of travellers. Sanjay Singh Kushwaha, who has been stranded at Frankfurt airport since the last three days, narrates his harrowing ordeal.Pix: Bangalore blasts aimed to create chaos, panicAnother live bomb was found near Gate Number 8 of Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Saturday evening.

Benazir was a central part of Pakistan's problemsFatima Bhutto, the outspoken niece of slain former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto, was in Mumbai recently to launch her book Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter's Memoir. The life and times of the Bhuttos is seen afresh in a passionately partisan but well-constructed memoir, says acclaimed-writer William Dalrymple about Fatima's book. He reviews it in context.'Tribals don't have sympathy but fear for Naxals''No one is saying that the police can become the solution, the police have to become the first respondent to create a situation where other people can enter,' says Chhattisgarh DGP Vishwa Ranjan.Video: Dr Singh, Obama hold mini summitPrime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh [ Images ] on Sunday night Indian time met United States President Barack Obama and is understood to have discussed nuclear security, India's concerns over American military aid to Pakistan and the volatile situation in Afghanistan.

April 09, 2010

The Maoist challenge is complex and formidableFrom Naxalbari to Jan Militia, the Naxal movement has assumed worrying proportions today. Veteran cop Mahendra Kumawat assesses the Naxal phenomena and states that negating the romantic appeal of Maoism and convincing the teeming millions that their problems would be addressed could lead to a lasting solution to the Naxal issue.China, Nepal resolve Mt Everest height rowEnding a long-standing dispute about the height of world's tallest mountain, Nepal and China have agreed to recognise the snow and rock height of Mount Everest, official sources said on Thursday, a report in Telegraph UK stated. Images: Inside the Naga Sadhus' camp at Kumbh MelaThe Naga Sadhus at the Kumbh Mela happen to be the most low-profile and reclusive bunch of saints at the religious gathering.

April 08, 2010

On death row in UAE: Convicts' families speak upSeventeen youngsters -- labourers, drivers and carpenters -- were sentenced to death on March 28 for the murder of a Pakistani in Sharjah last year. Rediff.com met some of their family members, who continue to pray fervently for the safe return of their sons.'2 nuclear nations entangled in this love story''We are sort of like cousins, who should really get along, but sometimes don't.' Fatima Bhutto on India, Pakistan and the uncle she does not get along with, Asif Ali Zardari.India is hunting for these Naxal terroristsIntelligence agencies have information about these dreaded outlaws, but are yet to put a face to most of them.'5,000 Maoists in Chhattisgarh''Naxalites have armed platoons and companies. Now they are planning to constitute a battalion in the Bastar area,' says Inspector General of Police R K Vij.

April 07, 2010

Pix: When flashbulbs popped at Saif, Sant ChatwalNRI hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal, music composer Ilaiyaraaja and top businessman Vindi Banga were conferred the Padma Bhushan awards by President Pratibha Patil in New Delhi on Wednesday.Graphic: The tentacles of Red terrorFollowing is a graphic on the Naxal menace in India.China willing to narrow down differences: IndiaIndia on Wednesday inked an agreement with China to set up a hotline between Prime Ministers of the two countries as it conveyed its serious concerns to the Chinese leadership over Beijing's issuance of stapled visas to Kashmiris and plans to undertake projects in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Pix: Tragedy strikes CRPF team in jungleIn the deadliest attack on security forces, Maoists trapped and gunned down 76 security personnel during Operation Green Hunt, an offensive against the Left-wing extremists, on Tuesday morning in the thick forests of Mukrana in Dantewada district of Chattisgarh.Pix: Tragedy strikes CRPF team in jungleIn the deadliest attack on security forces, Maoists trapped and gunned down 76 security personnel during Operation Green Hunt, an offensive against the Left-wing extremists, on Tuesday morning in the thick forests of Mukrana in Dantewada district of Chattisgarh.Wish Ravi Shankar on his 90th birthdayRavi Shankar turns 90 today. Wish him!'Road mines and ambushes cause us most casualties''Because of the paucity of force, we have to be extremely creative in your ops. You can't go for an all out war,' says Chhattisgarh DGP Vishwa Ranjan.Kamal Nath stunned by '84 riots chargeUnion Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath was taken aback at the Indian Consulate in New York, when a journalist asked him about his alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in New Delhi during a press conference Tuesday, a couple of hours after a civil lawsuit was filed against him in a New York district court.

April 06, 2010

'Maoists have totally militarised themselves''When Maoists say that a protracted, violent, armed way is the only way to capture power then what is the way out except confronting them as a state,' asks Chhattisgarh DGP Vishwa Ranjan.Video: US army shooting down journos in IraqOne of the two photojournalists killed in a 2007 attack by a US helicopter gunship in Iraq was being rescued when the gunship's crew fired on the van to which he was being carried, according to a CNN footage posted online on Monday.

April 05, 2010

'Yodha Shakti' along Pak border this monthThe Army will hold a month-long war game in the Rajasthan desert along the border with Pakistan to validate its battle concepts including to plug gaps in the night vision capability of its mechanised forces. Taliban storms Pak US consulate; blasts kills 43Setting off powerful explosions and firing from automatic weapons, militants dressed in battle fatigues on Monday made a brazen attempt to storm the US consulate within the cantonment in Peshawar today, killing at least one person and injuring several others.How I joined the Naxals, and why I leftIn the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, one of the India's worst Naxalite-affected regions, rediff.com's Archana Masih meets a teenaged girl who spent two years with the Naxals and is trying to build her life all over again.Special: Is Europe turning intolerant to Islam?Fuelled by the rise in instances of terror and the manner in which the acts are executed, Europe is shutting the door tight on its minorities and doing all it can to 'perhaps' feel protected.Images: Sadhus have a blast at the Kumbh MelaThousands of sadhus and sants from across India have congregated in Haridwar to attend the Purna Kumbh Mela at Haridwar.Many of them participated in the Chaitra Purnima Snan at Har ki Pauri, the main ghaat in Haridwar, on Tuesday.

April 02, 2010

The saddle-maker who breeds horsesKanjibhai Chavda (46), a Dalit schoolteacher from Akru village, about 115 kilometers from Ahmedabad, has been gladly suffering a royal three generation-long addiction -- breeding and selling horses! traveled to this small village in Gujarat to bring forth this fascinating story.Right to Education: Why India has a long way to goHistory has shown that successive governments, in spite of their constitutional obligations, do not find spending money for universalising quality education politically compelling. Could that change now?